Guatemala

My dad took us on an awesome trip right after Christmas. We went down to Guatemala to go sail fishing. Dad had taken this trip before and knew it would be a neat experience for us. It was definitely a memorable time!

On December 27th, Alex and I hopped a plane to Guatemala and met Dad, Sheila and Helen in Guatemala City. After a lunch with friends in the city, we loaded up for our 2 hour drive to the coast. Our driver was pleasant, but more importantly, navigated us safely through the city with all of its CRAZY drivers! We arrived at our house and were immediately greeted with freshly made cheese and shrimp stuffed fried jalapeños and margaritas. It was a great welcome! We sat around and visited with our hosts, Captain Brad and his wife, Cindy. We couldn't get enough of the perfect weather. It was a nice change from the freezing temperatures we left that morning. The first evening was a chance to settle in and relax. We enjoyed a delicious meal outside under our thatched roof pavilion and all headed to bed shortly after. Alex and I had been up since 3:30 that morning, so we were ready for a good snooze.

Alex and me after arriving

The first day on the boat brought a couple surprises. The water was a lot rougher than normal, which didn't seem to be a problem until we slowed down to cast the lines. I started feeling ill, but didn't want to think about it in hopes it would go away. Well, next thing I know, Alex is leaning over the side of the boat because he was sick. I only lasted another minute before I succumbed to the sickness. Unfortunately, this continued for the two of us until they brought us to shore a few hours later. There was some big fishing going on though, so we made our best effort to participate.
This is Dad and Helen fighting a blue marlin! It was the first bite we got that day, and made for an exciting start. It was so amazing to see this big, beautiful fish jumping right in front of us!

blue marlin

Captain Brad estimated the fish to be around 275-300 lbs. After an hour-long fight, Brad cut the line.

The next bite was for Alex and this one turned out to be a sailfish. He did a great job with the fish, but resumed his previous work of "feeding the fish" as soon as he was finished.  

Good job, Alex!

Hanging out before dinner

Thanks to Cindy, we went out armed with a scoplomine patch on the second day. It definitely did its job of preventing motion sickness. Let me just say for the record, I would have never thought I would be the type to get sea sick. I've grown up on boats and don't have a fear of water. There was just something about that boat rocking in the rough water that got to me. If you ever go deep sea fishing, get a patch! 

Pretty volcanoes in the distance. You can see one of them smoking.

enjoying fresh pineapple

yay! I got one!

We also caught some Dorado (aka bullnose dolphin/mahi mahi) and ate this fresh fish that night. 

Sheila's sailfish was pretty big!

Next person up was Helen. Her sail fish was feisty and jumped a lot.

Here we are with the crew of Decisive. Center row, L to R: Captain Brad, Kennedy, and Johnny

Family pic

While we were having appetizers on our final evening, the Mariachi surprised us! It was such a fun and authentic Guatemalan experience.

The delicious ceviche appetizer made from fresh fish

This is Cindy. She was an exceptional host and such a sweet woman. Despite her trying to hide it, we found out that she was Miss Guatemala in 2000.

more Mariachi

Dinner on our last night

The trip was so fun that I honestly never even missed Perry. He was being well cared for by Alex's mom and step dad. This was our first time away from him for longer than a night and it went perfectly well!